Sentence Unscrambling

-Sentence parts, arrange effectively, unscramble
-Chunks of meaning (make meaningful chunks)
-Shows importance of the arrangement of words/phrases
-Can be movable-effective
-Then connect to “comma splice”
-Move around parts in own writing in effective ways

Activity 5 (17)

P1

1. The rear of the car lifted into the air for a moment, and then it thumped down with a muddy splash.

2. Then it moved around the side of the car.

3. At the back the animal snorted, a deep rumbling growl that blended with the thunder

4. The big raised tail blocked their view out of all the side windows.

5. It sank its jaws into the tire mounted on the back of the Land Cruiser and, in a single head shake, tore it away.

Then it moved around the side of the car. The big raised tail blocked their view out of all the side windows. At the back the animal snorted, a deep rumbling growl that blended with the thunder. It sank its jaws into the tire mounted on the back of the Land Cruiser and, in a single head shake, tore it away. The rear of the car lifted into the air for a moment, and then it thumped down with a muddy splash.

P2

1.It was the work of the rushing gust-but then without those doors there did stand the lofty and shrouded figure of the Lady Madeline of Usher.

2. There was blood upon her white robes, and the evidence of some bitter struggle upon every portion of her emaciated face.

3. As if in the superhuman energy of his utterance there had been found the potency of spell, the huge antique panels to which the speaker pointed threw slowly back, upon the instant, their ponderous and ebony jaws.

4. For a moment she remained trembling and reeling to and fro upon the threshold-then, with a low, moaning cry, fell heavily inward upon the person of her brother, bore him to the floor a corpse, and a victim to the terrors he had anticipated.

As if in the superhuman energy of his utterance there had been found the potency of spell, the huge antique panels to which the speaker pointed threw slowly back, upon the instant, their ponderous and ebony jaws. It was the work of the rushing gust-but then without those doors there did stand the lofty and shrouded figure of the Lady Madeline of Usher. There was blood upon her white robes, and the evidence of some bitter struggle upon every portion of her emaciated face. For a moment she remained trembling and reeling to and fro upon the threshold-then, with a low, moaning cry, fell heavily inward upon the person of her brother, bore him to the floor a corpse, and a victim to the terrors he had anticipated.

Activity 6

P1 (21)

See book.

P2 (22)

See book.

Possible Applications for ELA Classroom:

You could introduce a new book or chapter by scrambling a 4-5 sentences and a paragraph from the book. Then have students work in pairs to try and put it together as the author did. We could then discuss why the author arranged the phrases as they did and if the author could have been effective any other way.